


How far will you go, how long will you wait - Part 1

by Gravp



Series: How far will you go, how long will you wait [1]
Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Action, Aged-Up Character(s), Cats, Fantasy, M/M, Mystery, Okinawa, Psychological Trauma, R18, Romance, Science Fiction, Sex, Thriller
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 10:36:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21196274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gravp/pseuds/Gravp
Summary: Sougo and Tamaki notice something wrong with TRIGGER while on a MEZZO live tour. How far down does this rabbit hole go? How long will you wait for true love? And will you even survive it all?





	How far will you go, how long will you wait - Part 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lex (Moooomoo)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moooomoo/gifts).

> All characters are above 18.

Chapter 1: A Thick Fog of Mystery

** _Backstage, THE GOOD MUSIC LIVE Concert Hall, Okinawa, Japan_ **

« I’m telling you, Sou-chan, something’s wrong with Trigger. I can feel it in my bones!”

Sougo stared at Tamaki while drinking from a bottle of water. They had just finished a seaside summer MEZZO concert in Okinawa. It had been a long, hot day and the only thing on his mind was going back to the hotel and jumping in the pool. He emptied the bottle and walked over to a nearby trash can.

“Tamaki-kun, I worry about you. You’ve been saying this for a few days now but haven’t been able to tell me WHY you think that.”

Tamaki fell silent. Sougo could see him struggling to come up with a clear reason why he felt that way, clenching his fists. Suddenly, he shot up, his eyes full of stars, and started quickly undressing. His pants, but then his underwear too.

“W-what are you doing Tamaki-kun???” Sougo said, suddenly blushing and turning around. 

“I can’t tell you but I can show you!” Tamaki exclaimed, grabbing Sougo’s hand and pulling him between his thighs. 

“AAAAH STOP IT WE CAN’T-“

“HERE!” Tamaki said, proudly. “Can you feel the thickness of my leg?”

Sougo tried to pull away. “No I’m not feeling anything, please stop-“

“I’m being serious, Sou-chan!” Tamaki said, a hint of sadness in his voice. 

Sougo suddenly stopped his agitation and looked at Tamaki. He really cared about this. Sougo regained his composure and put both his hands around Tamaki’s right thigh, being careful not to touch anything else.

“Okay, I just did. What now?”

Tamaki pulled out his phone from his left pocket, his pants and underwear still around his ankles.

“Look at TRIGGER’s live from yesterday. Don’t their thighs look…strange?”

Sougo grabbed Tamaki’s phone and zoomed in on the picture. He had never paid attention to that part of the body before. He wondered why Tamaki had, but dismissed the thought for the moment. He looked at the picture, and indeed, something seemed…off? He handed back the phone to Tamaki.

“I think I see what you mean” Sougo finally said.

Tamaki was overjoyed. “So will you help me figure out what’s happening???” Tamaki shouted happily.

Sougo sighed. “Yes, but only after you’ve pulled your pants up.”

** _LOVELY BEACH OKINAWA Hotel, Room 507, Okinawa, Japan_ **

Sougo had his serious face on.

“I’ve thought about this long and hard, Tamaki-kun, and I think I’ve come up with a plan”.

Tamaki began to frown. “That sounds like a lot of work already.”

Sougo ignored him and moved on. They were both sitting on the double-size bed, their window open and a cool sea breeze flowing through the room. They had the next two days off to rest before returning to the Idolish crew, and Sougo was seizing that window of opportunity. He put his hands below the bed’s sheets and pulled out a board filled with photos of Trigger and some other things all interconnected with different colored wires. The photos were pinned with different colored plastic pins.

Tamaki was quite confused.

“What is all of this, Sou-chan?” he asked.

Sougo cleared his throat and began. He pointed towards a photo in the top left part of the board.

“I’ve gone back through the videos of the last few TRIGGER live tours, and noticed their odd thigh shape started with the current one.”

He then pointed to a few other photos of the guys’ thighs, all extremely zoomed in with red markings on them measuring the “extra thickness” compared to usual. He continued.

“I then tried to find out what was so different about this live tour and found out something odd.”

Tamaki’s eyes started to glow. “What did you find out?” He was totally enthralled.

Sougo smiled. “They have a new sponsor. An energy drink called MASHFUL”. He pointed to a few photos of the drink’s logo and packaging design.

Tamaki’s head fell to the side. He wasn’t getting it. Sougo treaded on.

“And look, here are some photos of them drinking MASHFUL during breaks, at interviews, even on their traveling bus and at signings.” Sougo took a deep breath, and finally said: “I think this drink is poisoning them and giving them thick thighs.”

Tamaki shot up. “NO WAY!”

Sougo pointed to another photo. It was a printout of a web article. “I found this blog post saying that MASHFUL is dangerous and actually banned in a few countries because of the use of some weird ingredients. But it’s the only article I’ve found on the subject.”

Tamaki pulled the photo from the board and started to read. Sougo had only printed an excerpt.

“But while BZ23 is not known to definitely cause cancer, another ingredient has been used in a court trial against MASHFUL: the active molecule F1Q. It is said to cause irregular cellular growth in certain parts of the body, usually in the lower half. Only men seem to be affected. Yet, every time this molecule has been tested by regula-“.

Tamaki struggled to read the word. He looked at Sougo.

“I don’t feel like reading it anymore. Please finish, Sou-chan!”

He handed over the photo to his partner who sighed and kept reading.

“Every time this molecule has been tested by regulatory agencies, the tests have been inconclusive. According to rumors, MASHFUL would be using F1Q-D, a variant of F1Q not discovered by others. But my only source on the matter disappeared and hasn’t been in contact since.”

Tamaki suddenly gasped. He looked at Sougo. “Could something bad have happened to that person??”

“I don’t know,” Sougo replied, “but this article could be entirely fake and posted by the competition. You never know.”

He tried his best to reassure Tamaki. It seemed to be working so he continued.

“After all, I haven’t found a single other piece of information about this.”

Tamaki fell back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

“We still need to warn Ryuu-aniki, Tenten and Gakkun about this” Tamaki finally said.

Sougo put the board away. “I agree with you. Their next live is on the edge of town, we should go see them.”

Tamaki’s eyes lit up. “Yes, let’s go see them in person!! We should bring them a present too!”

Sougo smiled. He liked to see Tamaki happy and relaxed. He could tell this MASHFUL business was worrying him. “It’s probably nothing” Sougo thought to himself. And yet, he couldn’t shake the thought in the back of his mind that something felt…off…and dangerous…

** _CUTIE STARS MARINA OPEN AIR LOUNGE, hills overlooking the venue, Okinawa, Japan_ **

“You’re so heavy Tamaki-kun! Stop moving!”

“That’s not nice to say Sou-chan! I’m doing my best!”

The plan was already going awry. 

When Sougo had failed to get tickets to the concert, and also failed to reach TRIGGER by phone, Tamaki had suggested they just sneak in the live. When that failed too, they decided to grab binoculars and watch from a distance, but that wasn’t accounting for the venue’s huge projectors sometimes flashing by them, revealing them to the surrounding area. “Two grown men with binoculars spying on a concert hall will look very weird” Sougo had said, and that’s why they were hiding in an oddly shaped bush, Tamaki directly on top of Sougo’s back. It seemed like the only good solution when panicking a few moments ago. 

Needless to say, Sougo had regrets.

The concert hall roared as TRIGGER finished the last song of the night and waved goodbye. 

“I can see Kujou-san finishing another can of MASHFUL” Sougo told Tamaki.

“We have to tell them quickly, Sou-chan!” Tamaki exclaimed.

“The projectors are being turned off. I see a path going behind the lounge to the backstage area. Let’s try there.”

Sougo put his binoculars away, his cap on, and pushed Tamaki off his back.

“Let’s go Tamaki-kun.”

They quickly descended down the hill, the moon high in the sky and the waves crashing on the shore not far from where they were.

“It’s really beautiful here” Tamaki said.

“It really is, Tamaki-kun” Sougo replied. He grabbed his hand, smiled and added “Let’s hurry”.

Tamaki smiled too. “Sure!”

As they got closer to the backstage entrance, they noticed a guard doing the rounds. It seemed like he was patrolling around the whole venue. As soon as he turned the corner towards the front of the place, the two MEZZO members sprinted to the door. Tamaki got to the door faster and turned the handle.

“It’s closed!” Tamaki shouted to Sougo.

Sougo gestured to stop making noise with his finger as he got closer, and started to whisper, “let me try.”

No luck. The door was truly closed. Sougo looked around the area, then finally up, and noticed an open ventilation area, just big enough so he could fit in with a bit of effort. He looked at Tamaki, who instantly understood. Tamaki put his hands together, Sougo raised his feet on top of them, and for a moment they completely synchronized as Tamaki pushed Sougo up who grabbed onto the ledge and pulled himself through. He landed right on the other side of the door: perfect. Suddenly, he heard Tamaki’s voice.

“Hurry Sou-chan, I can see the guard’s flashlight. He’s coming back!!”

Sougo suddenly heard a noise behind him. It sounded like footsteps, advancing very quickly. 

“Tamaki-kun, some people are coming. Hide in a nearby bush and I’ll come back and open the door as soon as they’ve gone!”

“Sou-chan I don’t like this at all!”

“It’s going to be okay”. Sougo took a deep breath, and put his hand against the door. He could feel Tamaki doing the same. “I promise, Tamaki-kun.”

Tamaki pulled his hand back, softly said “okay”, and sprinted into nearby bushes. 

Sougo looked around him. Whoever were coming towards him, they were about to turn the corner into the hallway he was standing in. It was quite dark. He quickly felt along the wall with his hands, looking for a room. Suddenly, he found what seemed like a handle. Sougo pushed through and hid behind the door, holding his breath. That’s when he heard two voices in the hallway he was just in seconds ago.

“Did you hear something?” A deep man’s voice said. He sounded foreign, American maybe?

“I don’t think so” a woman’s voice replied. It sounded like she had a Kansai accent.

“Check the door before we began to talk” the man ordered.

“I really hope Tamaki-kun is hiding well” Sou-chan thought anxiously.

“Clear” the woman said, “we can debrief”.

The man cleared his throat. “The plan seems to be going well. They’ve really taken a liking to MASHFUL.”

“Are they addicted yet?” the woman asked.

“Not yet, but stage one is already happening. They’re getting thicker around their thigh area.”

“How are the biological readings so far?”

“According to the blood samples we collected in the name of nutrition, Tsunashi-san should be the first one to start feeling the negative effects.”

“What are those again?” the woman asked.

Sougo could hear the man grabbing a piece of paper from his pocket.

“Satoru-san sent me this: stage 1, thighs getting thicker. Stage 2: body getting weaker. Stage 3: voice disappearance. And stage 4…”

Sougo could feel his stomach turning in anxious anticipation.

“Stage 4: self-social isolation. And then, the band is done.”

The woman laughed. “Perfect. GET ME SEXY is standing by. They’re excited to make their Japanese debut.”

GET ME SEXY? Sougo had never heard of an idol group by that name.

“But what about the copyright to all their songs? How will we get those?” the woman asked.

“That’s not for me or you to know. That’s for Satoru-san to handle.” 

The man groaned. He seemed annoyed she had asked such a question.

“I’m sorry, Ni-san” the woman said.

“It’s okay, Ichi-san” the man replied. “Let’s get out of here.”

Sougo heard some more footsteps, the door opening, closing, then silence. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard. It sounded insane. MASHFUL? ADDICTION? GET ME SEXY? He had to warn TRIGGER. But first, he had to find Tamaki!

** _CUTIE STARS MARINA OPEN AIR LOUNGE, outdoors area backstage, Okinawa, Japan_ **

Tamaki sprinted to nearby bushes and hid behind them just as the security guard’s flashlight shone on his previous position. “That was close!” Tamaki thought to himself as he tried to control his breathing and make less noise. He suddenly noticed a truck approaching the premises. It was entirely black, with no markings and not even a number plate. “That’s odd” Tamaki thought as he slowly took his phone out and tried to take pictures. 

The truck got closer to the venue and stopped, parking right by it. Another security guard jumped out from the driver’s seat and motioned to the first security guard. He was much bulkier and taller than the lankier and shorter guard who had been patrolling the venue.

“Ready to go? All good?” the second guard asked the first one.

“Yep, we’re just waiting for Ichi-san and Ni-san to finish their meeting with TRIGGER and we can get out of here.” He spit on the ground. “I hate this town. It’s too hot here.”

The second guard started to laugh. “I forgot about that. You’re from Hokkaido, right? Such a mountain boy.”

“Yeah, what’s so funny about that?” The first guard seemed a bit offended.

“I’m just kidding” the second guard added, grabbing the first guard in his arms and giving him a hug.

He suddenly pulled a bit away from the first guard, bent a bit forward and kissed him passionately. Tamaki could feel himself blushing. He was a bit bothered, like he was intruding on somebody’s private moment.

“You’re all forgiven” the second guard said, as they both got in the truck.

“I need to remember that trick if I ever make Sou-chan mad” Tamaki thought to himself. He turned his attention to the door. A few seconds later, it opened, and both a man and a woman exited the venue. No sign of Sougo anywhere, which made Tamaki a bit more anxious.

“All done?” the bulkier guard asked the man and woman.

“Yes, we can go back to Satoru-san. He’ll brief us on the next steps” the woman replied.

“Let’s go” the man concluded.

Both the man and the woman entered the truck, which then began to turn around, preparing to leave.

Tamaki started to truly panic. “Sou-chan, where are you? What should I do?” he thought stressfully as he scanned the surroundings. That’s when he noticed the truck’s cargo doors didn’t have a lock on them. Tamaki looked at the backstage door, then back at the truck. 

“Sou-chan, I’m scared, but I’m doing what you would have done” he softly said.

He then began to sprint in the darkness to the back of the truck. He was there in seconds and pulled on the handle: the door opened. Tamaki quickly jumped in and closed it from the inside. It was pitch black in there. He turned on his phone’s flashlight and looked around: nothing but boxes and boxes of MASHFUL. He couldn’t see the drivers from the inside, and it seemed like they couldn’t see him either.

“I should tell Sou-chan” Tamaki said as he opened Rabbit, sat down in between big packages, and started to write a new message.

Just as he was about to hit send, the truck suddenly braced, sending him flying onto the truck’s inside wall. Tamaki was instantly knocked out, his phone slipping out of his hand, the message un-sent. That’s when it bipped with a new message received, from Sougo, marked as read because the app was already open….

** _CUTIE STARS MARINA OPEN AIR LOUNGE, backstage area, Okinawa, Japan_ **

Sougo sent the message to Tamaki and saw the “message read” receipt instantly show up in Rabbit. “Yes!” Sougo thought excitedly, “he’s still outside. We can meet and go warn TRIGGER!” Minutes passed, but Tamaki never replied. Sougo sent a few more messages, but they were all tagged with “message read” instantly. He started to worry.

“Oh no, Tamaki-kun, I hope you’re alright” he said as he left the room carefully and headed to the exit. 

He slowly opened the door: no signs of Tamaki or even the guard.

“Tamaki-kun, are you there?” Sougo softly shouted into the darkness.

No answers. Just the sound of the wind. Sougo looked around and saw tire marks on the ground. “Where these here before?” he wondered as he scanned the area once more looking for signs of Tamaki. Sougo couldn’t move from the exit or he would be locked out of the venue. He got back inside, closed the door, and slumped against it. He thought about the current situation. He wanted to run to TRIGGER and tell them everything, but what if he had misunderstood the conversation he had overheard? And what if Tamaki wasn’t missing but simply back at the hotel or some other simple explanation? He needed to be sure before saying anything, but he still had to find out more from Gaku, Tenn and Ryuu. He could get some clues that way which could help to protect them.

“I need some help” Sougo said to no one in particular as he began to text Riku.

He abruptly stopped. He could already imagine the situation. Riku would get incredibly anxious and stressed. Sougo had to make sure he had more information before warning the rest of the team. He slowly quit the app and pulled his phone back into his pocket. “Time to find Tsunashi-san, Kujou-san and Yaotome-san now!” Sougo thought as he started to explore the venue. 

A few corridors later, he found a room with TRIGGER’s name on it. Sougo stopped in front of the door, put his cap away in his bag, took a deep breath and knocked two times.

No answer. Sougo knocked once more and waited for a bit. Still no answer. He carefully put his hand on the handle and pushed forward slowly. The door was unlocked and opened. Sougo’s eyes quickly darted around before resting on a motionless man lying on the floor, the only person seemingly in the room.

It was Ryuunosuke.

“Oh no Tsunashi-san!” Sougo cried, running towards the body as the door closed behind him.

**_Half an hour ago,_** **_CUTIE STARS MARINA OPEN AIR LOUNGE, backstage area, Okinawa, Japan_**

The TRIGGER live had just finished. Gaku, Tenn and Ryuunosuke waved one last time to the crowd and exited the main stage. Tenn finished his can of MASHFUL and threw it in a recycling bin.

“I wasn’t sure about these energy drinks in the beginning,” Tenn began to say, “but I’ve really taken a liking to them.”

“I agree.” Gaku added. “I was skeptical too but I feel good whenever I drink some.”

Gaku looked at this watch.

“We need to hurry, guys. Let’s head to the hotel now and change there. The Okinawa Summer Illuminations will be over if we don’t hurry and today’s the final day.” Gaku said, already walking towards the side exit where their tour bus was waiting for them.

Tenn began to follow suit but noticed Ryuunosuke not doing so.

“Are you not coming Ryuu” Tenn asked Ryuunosuke.

Ryuunosuke turned his back to Tenn before answering. “I’ll meet you guys at the hotel directly, I forgot something in the dressing room.”

“Don’t stay too long or you’ll miss it!” Gaku shouted as he and Tenn left the building.

Ryuunosuke walked past the technical crew tidying up the place and went straight to TRIGGER’s dressing room. He felt weak, very weak, but he wasn’t sure why. It didn’t seem like the usual after-live general tiredness where his muscles and mind needed to rest. It felt different, more debilitating, and more worrisome, but he didn’t want to bother Gaku and Tenn and possibly hinder their illumination viewing. They had worked so hard. They deserved it.

All of a sudden his head felt very light. Ryuunosuke tried to get closer to a couch to lay down but couldn’t make it before collapsing on the floor. As he was losing consciousness, he could almost feel another presence in the room. A man and a woman smiling to each other and nodding before leaving.

“But that was probably not real” Ryuunosuke thought to himself before fully losing consciousness.

  
  
  
  


Chapter 2: Blood is Thicker than Water

** _Unknown location, inside of a truck_ **

Tamaki slowly regained consciousness.

“Ouch, my head hurts a bit?” he said, massaging his skull. “How long have I been unconscious?”

He opened his eyes and realized he was in pitch darkness. His heart rate immediately spiked as he crawled back against the wall of the truck, clutching his knees together. It was too dark. He could barely see his hands right in front of him. 

“Sou-chan…where are you…” Tamaki said softly as he buried his head in between his knees. “I need you…”

Hours seemed to go by, although they were probably minutes. Tamaki couldn’t tell anymore. He was terrified and could barely think straight. His whole body was shaking, and yet as much as he was scared about his current situation, he couldn’t help but think about Sougo and TRIGGER. 

“Sou-chan…please don’t worry about me…” he said to no one in particular.

That’s when he heard a noise, like something was buzzing. Tamaki slowly raised his head. He could see a faint light coming from somewhere inside the truck.

“Sou…chan…?”

Once again, a source of light appeared as well as the buzzing sound. Tamaki began to crawl towards the sound.

“Sou-chan…I’m coming…”

There it was, underneath a container that seemed quite heavy: his phone had slid under it. Tamaki extended his hand, but he couldn’t quite reach it.

“Sou-chan, I’m right here!” he began to shout, “please don’t forget about me!”

Once more his phone lit up as he pushed even more. He kept thinking about Sougo, about how much he missed him, and how much Sougo must have been worrying. He thought about TRIGGER and that suspicious MASHFUL drink. And with one more stronger push, he moved the whole container forward and finally grabbed his phone.

“Yatta!” Tamaki screamed as he quickly turned his flashlight on.

He had received plenty of messages from Sougo worrying about him and asking him where he was. Once again, even in absolute darkness, Sougo was his shining beacon of light and hope. He immediately dialed Sougo’s number but the call wouldn’t connect: the signal strength was pretty low. It seemed only messages could go through.

“I’m okay Sou-chan,” he began to type, “I saw two male guards, a man and a woman enter a truck and they seemed suspicious, so I jumped in the trunk.”

He paused to look around using his flashlight.

“I don’t know where I am, I’ve lost consciousness for a while but I’m okay now!” he resumed. “Are you okay Sou-chan? Did you manage to warn Ryuu-aniki and the others?” he concluded before hitting send.

The message had been sent from his phone but hadn’t arrived yet. It seemed like he was slowly losing more and more signal strength. Tamaki walked to the door of the truck and put his ears against it. He couldn’t hear anything. Slowly but surely, he pulled the handle and pushed the door forward, just enough to peek his phone’s camera out and look around. It was pretty dark, but the sun was starting to rise in the distance. Dusk. Had he been out cold all night?! Tamaki shuddered at the idea. Surrounding the truck seemed to be dozens and dozens of containers like the ones you could see on big commercial boats at sea. They all had the MASHFUL logo printed on them.

Tamaki’s phone buzzed. He slowly closed the door and headed back inside. It was Sougo.

“I’m so glad you’re okay Tamaki-kun!” the message said, “I’m with Tsunashi-san and we’re getting help.”

Tamaki felt relief for the first time in days. At least a member of TRIGGER was aware of his worries, and Sougo was okay. Tamaki continued to read Sougo’s message.

“There’s a feature on Rabbit to share your phone’s location with me. Try tapping the pin icon, Tamaki-kun!” Tamaki read. “Oh right! I forgot about that one!” he said to an empty truck.

He tapped the icon and a cute rabbit jumped from the toolbar to the messaging area, before transforming into GPS coordinates. Tamaki tapped the coordinates which opened the Maps app on his phone. His eyes widened and his mouth opened, just as he saw Sougo’s message pop up at the top of his screen.

“Tamaki-kun, where the heck are you?!”

** _Seven hours ago, CUTIE STARS MARINA OPEN AIR LOUNGE, TRIGGER dressing room, Okinawa, Japan_ **

Sougo’s eyes widened in panic. “Tsunashi-san!” he screamed as he rushed over to his body, kneeling by his side. He put his ear close to Ryuunosuke’s mouth and checked his pulse. He couldn’t hear him breathing and his pulse seemed slow. Sougo quickly scanned the room looking for anything that could help and noticed a first aid kit taped to a wall at the other end of the room. He rushed over, jumping over the dressing room’s sofa and grabbed the kit before returning to Ryuunosuke.

“Don’t worry Tsunashi-san,” he said as he frantically opened the kit and started rummaging through it, “I’m here!”.

He finally found a shot of adrenaline in pen format. He put it aside for now, and started to do contractions on Ryuunosuke’s chest.

“I’m sorry for this Tsunashi-san!” Sougo shouted as brought his lips to Ryuunosuke’s and began giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. 

“Come on, Tsunashi-san. Please!”

Sougo continued for a minute but nothing was happening. He looked at the adrenaline shot. It was his last solution. He couldn’t help risk alerting a medical crew and potentially causing more harm to TRIGGER, or even Tamaki. What if they warned MASHFUL? He couldn’t trust anybody. “I’m sorry for this too!” he thought as he unbuttoned Ryuunosuke’s pants and underwear to properly reveal one of his thighs. Sougo grabbed the adrenaline pen and pushed on it, injecting the content inside Ryuunosuke’s body.

Moments passed.

Ryuunosuke jolted upright. He turned left, then right and saw Sougo whose eyes were filled with tears.

“Sougo-kun? What are you doing he-“ he said before being cut off as Sougo jumped in his arms, hugging him tightly.

“I’m so glad you’re alright, Tsunashi-san!” he said softly, holding on tighter than ever.

Ryuunosuke stared at Sougo a bit confused, before hugging him in return too.

“I’m okay, Sougo-kun” he replied. “I’m okay.”

Half an hour later, Sougo had finished telling Ryuunosuke everything, who had also shared with Sougo what was physically happening to him.

“So, what do you think about all of this?” Sougo said to him.

Ryuunosuke folded his arms. On one hand, he could see that Sougo was clearly in distress about all of this, and all he wanted to do was believe him.

But on the other hand, it sounded all so dramatic. It felt to him like there still was the potential for all of this to be one big misunderstanding. He closed his eyes, put his index finger against his forehead and began to think.

“Could you try messaging and calling Tamaki-kun once more?” he asked Sougo, who promptly did so.

“It’s the same as before,” Sougo replied, “my messages are instantly read, like his app is open but he’s not around.”

Ryuunosuke thought some more. They needed to find out more about Tamaki’s whereabouts. If those were suspicious, then that would be enough for him to act he thought. He got up and felt a bit dizzy. He was feeling better than before, but if he wasn’t careful, the efforts could take a toll on his health. He extended his hand to Sougo and helped him up.

“I have an idea, Sougo-kun” he said to his friend. “There should be security cameras outside the venue.”

Sougo’s eyes lit up. “We could find out what happened to Tamaki-kun.”

“Exactly.” Ryuunosuke smiled. “Let’s find the security office of the building. I think I walked past it coming here.”

“Okay, but first, one more thing Tsunashi-san” Sougo said, blushing slightly.

He looked away while pointing towards his thighs.

“Maybe you should pull your pants back up?” he finally asked.

A few moments later, they were on their way. This part of the venue seemed totally empty. A few doors down the corridor, they found one labeled “Security Center”. Ryuunosuke pulled the handle: it was locked.

“What do we do now?” Sougo asked him.

Ryuunosuke took a few steps back, then ran full force towards the door which instantly broke open. Sougo stared at him, shocked.

“It doesn’t seem like this is your first time, Tsunashi-san” he said, entering the room too.

“I guess that’s true…” Ryuunosuke replied, mysteriously.

The inside was typically what you would expect: lots of monitors each labeled by what they were observing, and a computer. Sougo turned it on. It wasn’t password protected.

“I guess they thought locking the door was enough” Sougo said, launching the only app that was on the desktop.

“Select the date or click LIVE for current feed” said the computer program.

Sougo set the time and day for approximately when Tamaki was outside.

“Select the camera feed you would like to view” continued the program.

“There,” Ryuunosuke said, pointing over Sougo’s shoulder to one camera in particular labeled “OUTSIDE BACKSTAGE AREA”.

His face was so close to Sougo that he could feel his breath on his neck. Sougo slowly chose the camera and clicked on the confirmation prompt. A video screen opened, showing the outside camera feed. The image was in black and white and had no sound. He saw Tamaki help him up inside the building, then running towards the bushes.

“I hope you’re alright, Tamaki-kun” Sougo said as he sped through the tape before pausing.

He could see an unmarked truck had parked right by the door, and Ichi and Ni were exiting the venue.

“Do you know those two, Tsunashi-san?” Sougo asked Ryuunosuke.

“They’re part of the MASHFUL staff, I’ve seen them around, but we’ve never been properly introduced” Ryuunosuke answered.

“Those two are the ones called Ichi and Ni” Sougo added, before resuming the video.

Moments later in the video, Tamaki could be seen rushing to the truck and jumping inside as it left the venue and drove away. Sougo turned to Ryuunosuke, and suddenly noticed a man dressed in black behind Ryuu, his arm holding a baton and raised in the air, about to strike.

“TSUNASHI-SAN!” Sougo screamed.

It all happened so fast. Ryuunosuke turned around and got hit so hard he was sent tumbling a few feet away on the floor. The man was between Sougo and the exit, leaving Sougo no choice but to slowly back into a corner.

“You shouldn’t have seen this” the man began to say, pulling a taser out of his utility belt. “Satori-san will have my head if he finds out about this. I only took a quick bathroom break!”

He bolted towards Sougo who raised his arm to protect himself and closed his eyes. That’s when he heard a loud “CRACK” and a thump. He slowly opened his eyes: the guard was unconscious on the floor. Ryuunosuke had smashed the room’s only wooden chair on the guard, knocking him out. 

“Tsunashi-san, you’re bleeding!” Sougo cried as he ran to Ryuunosuke.

“It’s nothing,” he said as he wiped away a streak of blood from his face. 

Ryuunosuke turned the guard’s body over and searched his pockets. Inside, he found what seemed like a MASHFUL key card. He grabbed it, put it away in his pockets and turned to Sougo.

“Sougo-kun, I believe all of this now.”

He turned around and pulled out his phone before continuing.

“But we need some help and I know who to ask”.

Ryuunosuke started to write a new message, then paused. “But will you help me out? Do I deserve your help?” he thought to himself for a few seconds, before resuming to type and hitting send. He looked back at Sougo.

“Let’s go, Sougo-kun.”

** _5 years ago, National Defense Academy of Japan (_ ** ** _防衛大学校_ ** ** _), Yokusuka, Japan_ **

“Recruits, attention!” a commanding officer screamed at a bunch of fresh-faced young men.

They were all barely eighteen and out of high school, still civilians and a bit disorientated in this brand-new environment. Watoru went to straighten his hair with his left hand before realizing it wasn’t there anymore. The first thing they had done to him when he had arrived here was to cut it all away. He had never had such little hair on his head. Already, Watoru was weary of this place, but he knew he didn’t have much of a choice. It was either that, or having no future, and that was out of the question.

The commanding officer began to examine every young man, starting from the other side of the line. Watoru looked around, and noticed a young man with very short brown hair, about 190 centimeters high just a tiny bit shorter than Watoru, with broader shoulders and yellow eyes like the sun. He was particularly striking but seemed a bit shy and under stress. Watoru called out to him. There were about 3 men between Watoru and him.

“Hey, pss, you!” he whispered.

The man couldn’t hear him. Watoru signaled to the man to his right to swap places with him. A few swaps later, he was right next to the man with yellow eyes.

“Hey, what’s your name?” Watoru asked the man.

“R-Ryuunosuke,” the man replied softly, “but you can call me Ryuu”.

“Ryuu-kun, I’m Watoru.” Watoru put his hand on Ryuu’s shoulder. “It’s going to be alright, take a deep breath. The commanding officer looks scary but that’s only because it’s our first day.”

Watoru could feel the tension in Ryuu’s shoulder relax. 

“That’s right. Stick with me and you’ll be alright,” he added, “we’ll make it together.”

Watoru smiled to Ryuu who smiled back. Watoru suddenly blushed. He could fill his heart beating a bit faster. But he couldn’t look away from Ryuu’s smile. It seemed so…pure? So-

“Satou-san, did I not say ATTENTION earlier?” the commanding officer screamed at Watoru.

“Sir yes sir, I’m sorry sir!” Watoru frantically replied, saluting properly.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Ryuu chuckle a bit. That made Watoru smile.

He was suddenly looking forward to the training camp ahead.

A few hours later, after having ran laps around the compound, they finally had an hour break to check in their rooms, meet their roommate and rest a bit before the next training session. Watoru went to the sign-in desk, gave his name, and received an envelope with his room number inside. 

“Dormitory I Room 7” Watoru read as he looked for his new home. 

He was looking forward to sharing his room with just one other person as opposed to 9 others back at the orphanage. He didn’t miss that place at all. “Finally,” he thought to himself, “I escaped. I’m free.” At the end of the corridor he found a door labeled “i7”. The “I” was not in caps like the letters were on the other rooms’ doors. “That’s odd” Watoru thought to himself as he pushed the door open. Inside were bunk beds, two small desks and a closet. In the middle of the room was Ryuu, naked, just beginning to put his underwear on. They both stared at each other for a few seconds before Ryuu screamed and turned around, hiding his butt with both hands.

“Aah I’m s-sorry Watoru-kun, I forgot to lock the door while I was changing!”

“It’s alright Ryuu-kun,” Watoru said calmly, “this is the military. We’re like brothers!” he finally said.

Instantly he regretted saying that. He didn’t want Ryuu to think of him as a brother. But why didn’t he want that? Ryuu turned around slowly.

“I guess it’s okay, you’re right,” he said putting his underwear on. 

“Matter of fact, I’ll do the same” Watoru said, removing his top and his pants too.

Ryuu reached for his pants on the floor and pulled them up, not noticing Watoru’s feet standing on them, causing Watoru to fell backwards. Ryuu jumped forward to help him, losing his balance and falling right on top of him, both boys with nothing but their underwear on.

For a moment there, time stopped as Watoru and Ryuu looked into each other’s eyes. Suddenly, Ryuu jumped up on his knees and lowered his head.

“I’m sorry Watoru-kun, I tried to help you but only made it worse!” he said, apologizing.

“It’s fine!” Watoru replied, laughing. “No need to excuse yourself!” 

Both boys got up and finished changing. Watoru looked at the beds.

“Do you have a preference, Ryuu-kun?”

Ryuu turned to look at the beds. “Not really, what about you?”

Watoru threw his bag on the upper bed. “I’m more of a top, myself” he said, smiling to Ryuu.

Watoru looked at the clock on their wall. It was almost time for the next session.

“We should head out. Want to go together, Ryuu-kun?”

Ryuu smiled. “Sure, Watoru-kun!”

Weeks went by and the training got harder every day. But every time Ryuu needed help, Watoru was there to comfort and support him. Apart for one Sunday off to explore the city, it had been nonstop since they had come to the academy. One night, Ryuu was at his desk writing a letter while Watoru was resting in bed. Watoru looked over. Ryuu seemed more than tired. He seemed a little lost.

“What’s up, Ryuu-kun?” he asked.

Ryuu seemed to have been snapped out of his reverie. “Ah sorry Watoru-kun, what did you say?”

“What are you up to?” Watoru repeated.

“I’m writing a letter to my family.” Ryuu replied. “I…miss them…” he added.

Watoru sat up straight. It was the first time Ryuu had ever talked about his life before the academy. They hadn’t shared much. The training had been so intense.

“How many siblings do you have?” Watoru asked.

“Three younger brothers” Ryuu replied. “They’re the reason I’m here.”

He shuffled sheets of paper together and put them away.

“I’ll continue writing tomorrow, I can’t find the inspiration right now.”

“I…” Watoru began to say before stopping.

Ryuu turned around to face him. Watoru hesitated for a few seconds, then decided to continue.

“It must feel nice to have a family. I don’t have any.”

“What do you mean?” Ryuu asked worryingly.

Watoru cleared his throat. “I’m an orphan. My parents died when I was just a baby, and my only remaining family, my fraternal uncle, disappeared when I was very little.”

He jumped from his bed on the ground and zipped open his duffle bag. He started rummaging through it and pulled out an old photo.

“I’m all alone in this world” he said to Ryuu half-smiling, showing a black and white picture of a baby, a man and a woman sitting in a park.

Ryuu looked at the photo, then at Watoru, and jumped in his arm, hugging him very tightly.

“You’re not alone anymore, Watoru-kun. You have me and I’ll always be by your side.”

Watoru hugged Ryuu back. Their cheeks brushed as they slowly brought their foreheads against one another. Slowly, but surely, their lips moved closer to each other until they kissed, alone in their room. Watoru could feel his whole body warm up. It felt like electricity was bursting out of every nervous connection in his body. It felt good, great even. It felt right.

It felt safe.

Both boys fell on top of Ryuu’s bed, still kissing. Watoru, on top of him, began to slide away and unbutton Ryuu’s pants. He carefully removed Ryuu’s underwear and began to lick his dick. With each stroke, he could feel Ryuu’s whole body reacting to it. A few seconds later, Ryuu and Watoru were both moaning in unison. Watoru could feel Ryuu getting closer to climax when suddenly he felt a hand push him away.

“No, not yet,” Ryuu said out of breath, “I want to feel you inside of me too.”

Watoru looked at him. He had never felt so close to another person before. He fully took off Ryuu’s pants and underwear and turned him around. Ryuu got on his knees as Watoru took his tongue to his anus, licking slowly. Again, Ryuu’s body reacted to what Watoru was doing, as he continued to moan. Watoru unbuttoned his pants, took his dick out, and carefully began to penetrate Ryuu.

“Ugh!” Ryuu softly cried as Watoru entered him.

“Are you okay?” Watoru asked, spitting on his dick to make it more wet.

“Yes, I’m fine, keep going please Watoru-kun” Ryuu replied.

With every back and forth, Watoru could feel himself getting more and more aroused as Ryuu arched his back, pushing back on his dick. The two young men felt as one as they made love for what seemed like forever.

“Ryuu-kun, I think I’m coming.” Watoru suddenly said.

“Me too, Watoru-kun. I’m feeling it too.” Ryuu replied.

Watoru ejaculated inside Ryuu just as he ejaculated on his own bed. The two fell on the bed, exhausted, but content and happy. Ryu turned on his back and kissed Watoru once more, as the two laid there for some time. They both felt so peaceful, so much at ease. After what seemed like a while, Ryuu began to speak.

“I don’t actually want to be here, Watoru-kun.”

Watoru looked at Ryuu as he continued to speak.

“My side of the family is currently struggling with money. I just finished high school, and I wanted to support my mom, so I joined the academy when I learned that recruits were paid full-time salaries.”

He slowly turned his head towards the wall, looking away.

“I’m so glad I’ve found you, Watoru-kun. Because the truth is…”

He started to cry.

“…I don’t want to be here at all!”

Ryuu cried as tears streamed down his face. Watoru lay by his side, Ryuu’s back to Watoru’s front, and hugged him tightly until they both fell asleep in each other’s arms.

** _4 and a half years ago, National Defense Academy of Japan (_ ** ** _防衛大学校_ ** ** _), Yokusuka, Japan_ **

Watoru was in the gym, sparring in a boxing ring with a fellow recruit. They had started a while ago, and Watoru could feel his arms getting weaker, but with Ryuu watching him on the side, he knew he couldn’t lose. 

He didn’t WANT to lose.

Takashi, his sparring partner, threw a left punch which Watoru dodged before hitting back with a right and landing the punch. He quickly looked at Ryuu who smiled and shouted a “Good job!” at him. Watoru smiled too. Ever since they had begun their specialization training, they had started to see less of each other although they still roomed together. Watoru wanted to join the Japan Air Self-Defence Force, whereas Ryuu wanted to join the Japan Maritime one, hoping he could train back in his hometown of Okinawa. Watoru evaded another punch. He quickly looked at his duffle bag right behind Ryuu. It contained a box, and inside of it, a necklace he had bought for Ryuu. The necklace was quite simple: a black leather collar with a silver anchor as the jewel of the necklace. Watoru had been saving up for months now, and was hoping to give it to Ryuu tonight. It had been six months since they had met, and those months were the best of Ryuu’s life.

A commanding officer entered the room carrying a cellphone. Takashi, Watoru and Ryuu suddenly stopped and saluted.

“Trainee Tsunashi-san, a call from your family!” the officer shouted, handing the phone to Ryuu.

Ryuu looked back at Watoru, grabbed the phone, and exited the gym to take the call. 

Half an hour later, Takashi and Watoru finished training. Ryuu still hadn’t come back.

“Are you hitting the showers, Watoru-kun?” Takashi asked.

“No thank you, I’ll wash back at the dorm” Watoru replied as he grabbed his duffle bag and left running. 

He could feel something was wrong, deep inside his gut. He finally reached dormitory I and saw his room’s door slightly open. He walked to it and pushed it open. Inside was Ryuu, his belongings all packed up inside a big bag, sitting on his bed, his head in his hands. Watoru dropped his bag by his side.

“What’s up, Ryuu-kun?”

Ryuu looked up at Watoru. He wasn’t crying, but he was clearly sad. Ryuu had grown so much these past months, Watoru thought to himself.

“My mother has had a medical emergency. She’s fine now, though,“ he quickly added, “but she’s begged me to come home and pursue my dream using my step father’s money. For her sake.”

Ryuu got up and walked towards Watoru.

“My flight back is in a few hours” he finally said, looking away from Watoru.

Watoru stayed motionless, looking away from Ryuu too. He didn’t want Ryuu to leave, but he also understood the situation. “Yet again,” he thought to himself, “I’ll be all alone in this world.” He finally moved again, grabbed the gift box from his bag, and handed it to Ryuu. 

“Here, take this and go. Your family needs you” he said to Ryuu, trying to smile.

Ryuu took the box, put it in his bag, and without looking at Watoru, walked to the door.

“I’m sorry, Watoru-kun,” he finally said.

Ryuu then left. 

Watoru looked at the floor, then at Ryuu’s bed, crying softly as he lay on top of it.

“Goodbye Ryuu-kun.”

** _Present day, around 2:30AM, outskirts of Okinawa, Japan_ **

Ryuunosuke clenched his necklace with his right hand. 

“So, how do you know this person, Tsunashi-san?” Sougo asked.

They were both sitting in the back of a taxi. Classical music was playing on the radio.

“He’s a friend from a long time ago” Ryuunosuke answered.

“Ah, you’ve kept in touch since?” Sougo continued.

“Just a few letters here and there…” Ryuunosuke said his voice trailing off, looking outside the window.

Sougo stopped talking. He could feel it seemed like a sore subject. Nevertheless, he was thankful Ryuunosuke was doing everything to help. Sougo put his hands on top of Ryuunosuke’s, who didn’t react.

“We’re here, Sougo-kun” he said as the car pulled up to what seemed like an abandoned airfield.

A tall man with very short hair was waiting for them. They paid the taxi and exited the car. Ryuunosuke walked closer to the tall man.

“Watoru-kun. I need your help”

Watoru stared at Ryuunosuke. Finally, he opened his arm smiling and they both hugged.

“It’s been a while, Ryuu-kun! Come inside, please!” he said gesturing to a small house behind him.

Ryuunosuke waved at Sougo to come, and all three men entered Watoru’s home.

Chapter 3: Getting to the Thick of It

** _Present day, around 2:30AM, Watoru’s home, outskirts of Okinawa, Japan_ **

As it turned out, what Sougo thought would be a home was more of a workspace, half toolshed half small kitchen. Plane schematics were hanging on the walls as well as pieces of different types of flying vehicles. “I wonder if he’s allowed to own all of these” Sougo thought as he walked around the space. Watoru carried a tray of mugs filled with hot tea and set it on a wooden table in the center of the room.

“Here!” Watoru said, giving a mug to Sougo.

“Thank you, er, I’m sorry I didn’t catch your last name?” Sougo asked hesitantly.

“Ah! Satou Watoru, at your service!” Watoru replied, saluting.

“Ah Satou-san, no need it’s okay!” Sougo said, blushing and panicking a bit.

Ryuunosuke lowered Watoru’s arm. “He’s just messing with you. You haven’t changed a bit, Watoru-kun.”

Watoru lightly jabbed Ryuunosuke’s side. “But you have, Ryuu-kun! I’ve watched you sing and dance, you’re a sexy superstar now, huh?” Watoru said.

“’Ryuu-kun?’ Sougo thought. “They must be pretty close. Or, rather, must have been”. Watoru extended his arm and grabbed Ryuunosuke’s necklace, examining the anchor.

“You’re still wearing it” he said calmly.

“Of course I am” Ryuunosuke said a bit defiantly.

The room fell silent. Sougo wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t want to break apart this moment, but he was also worried for Tamaki. He grabbed his phone and sent another message to Tamaki. Still the same result as before. That gave Sougo the extra push he needed. He cleared his throat.

“Ahem. Sorry Tsunashi-san but I’m really worried about Tamaki-kun and you too. We need to get moving.”

Ryuunosuke moved away from Watoru, the necklace slipping from his hand. “I’m sorry Sougo-kun, you’re right.” 

He paced around the room once before standing in front of Watoru, on the other side. All three men were facing each other around the table. Ryuunosuke took a deep breath before saying:

“Watoru-kun, I think a friend of ours may have been kidnapped by a company that is also trying to poison my idol group and replace us with another one, while stealing the copyright to our songs.”

The room fell silent again, but with a much different energy filling the room. Watoru’s eyes widened in shock. He turned to Sougo looking serious, then turned back to Ryuunosuke. 

“Please, Watoru-kun, help us. I don’t know who else to ask.”

The words echoed in Watoru’s mind. He regained his composure, raised his head and shouted:

“Protocol i7.”

“I7?” Sougo wondered. Nothing happened for a few seconds. Suddenly, the light in the room switched to red. Sougo heard the door they came through lock itself. The plane schematics on the wall all flipped 180 degrees to reveal new things: guns, gadgets, bags, binoculars, small laptops and a few keys. Sougo couldn’t believe what was happening. He turned to Ryuunosuke who didn’t seem as shocked as Sougo but definitely still a bit surprised.

Watoru grabbed a few bags from the wall and threw one at Ryuunosuke and one at Sougo.

“I’m going to throw a few accessories at you. Put them in your bag for now, we’ll go over them later.” Watoru said in a serious voice. 

His demeanor had changed completely from the fun and flirty man of a few minutes ago. “I guess that’s what a soldier looks like” Sougo thought.

“Here are night vision binoculars,” Watoru said as he threw a pair to each of the other two, “and when you push the side button you send what you see to the other two.”

Sougo looked at the binoculars before putting them in his bag. They seemed much more advanced than his.

“This looks like a mini-laptop,” Watoru said as he handed them over, “but it’s actually a radar and hacking device.” He turned one on, revealing a green radar-like interface showing dots. “You can see people, tag them by touching the dots, and send locations to others.”

He then turned the device on its side and opened a small hatch revealing cables.

“If you’re in front of a locked door with an electronic lock, take the cables out and tape them to the keypad. The computer will do the rest. And when you’re done…”

Watoru folded the cables back in and proceeded to fold the device in four. It looked like a regular modern smartphone.

“…hit it a bit three times on the ground to arm it. Five seconds later it will explode. If you hit it three times before the five seconds are over, it will cancel the countdown.”

Watoru folded it away. He then walked over to the guns, stopped to look back at Ryuunosuke and Sougo, then looked back at the weapons. He slowly grabbed two and handed them over.

“These are stun guns,” Watoru explained, “they can’t kill. Just point and shoot. They’ll knock a person out for quite a while.”

“Hold on, Satou-san!” Sougo exclaimed. “Do you think it could come to this? Shouldn’t we call the police?”

“Are you sure they won’t kill Tamaki-kun the moment you alert the authorities?” Watoru asked calmly.

Sougo stopped and stared at the gun. He lowered his head and handed it back to Watoru.

“Satou-san, let me ask you this” Sougo said before raising his head and meeting Watoru’s eyes. “Are you ready to kill to protect the one you love?”

Watoru slowly grabbed the gun, still fixated on Sougo’s gaze.

“Get me an actual gun, please” Sougo finally said.

Watoru’s eyes widened again. “Who is this man?” Watoru thought. He could sense darkness behind his eyes. Watoru turned to Ryuunosuke, who kept the stun gun in his hands.

“I’ll keep this one” Ryuunosuke said.

Watoru handed the stun gun back to Sougo.

“Keep it anyway.”

He walked to the rest of the gun rack.

“Sougo-kun, we still don’t know where Tamaki-kun is, correct?” Watoru asked.

Sougo checked his phone once more. “That’s right,” he answered.

“Then we have a bit of time.”

Watoru grabbed a few handguns and their magazines

“Let’s see how you can handle these with a bit of training.”

** _Present day, around 6AM, Watoru’s base, outskirts of Okinawa, Japan_ **

Watoru sat down next to Ryuunosuke and handed him a bottle of water. They had been training together for a few hours now, and were finally taking a break.

“Where’s Sougo-kun?” Ryuunosuke asked, unscrewing the bottle.

“I’ve accidentally shot him” Watoru replied seriously.

Ryuunosuke choked on his water. Watoru laughed.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” Watoru said, hitting him on the back.

“You scared me, Watoru-kun!” Ryuunosuke said.

“I’m sorry. I just like teasing you so much.”

Ryuunosuke drank the remaining of the bottle. He was anxious about what was coming but having Watoru by his side was reassuring. He looked at the sky above. The night was ending and there were just a few stars left.

“I’m sorry I haven’t kept more in touch” he suddenly said to Watoru, still staring at the sky. “I’ve been so busy with TRIGGER and my family…”

Watoru didn’t turn to him and looked straight ahead, to the sea.

“It’s alright,” Watoru said calmly, “our lives have taken very different paths.”

Ryuunosuke touched his necklace with his hand, still looking up at the sky.

“Still, I’m sorry Watoru-kun…”

“It’s alright Ryuu-kun, please stop apologizing.”

Ryuunosuke turned to Watoru.

“But I should apologize, I’ve missed you for a long time but I never reached out. And for that I am sorry.”

“It’s okay, stop Ryu-” Watoru began to say, still staring ahead.

“No I won’t!” Ryuunosuke said, louder.

“I SAID STOP IT!” Watoru screamed.

He suddenly jumped on top of Ryuunosuke, pinning him to the ground. Watoru was crying, his tears falling on Ryuunosuke’s face.

“Stop it, Ryuu-kun…” Watoru said, crying. “Stop apologizing.”

Ryuunosuke was stunned. He didn’t know what to do except look at Watoru.

“I’ve...never been mad at you Ryuu-kun. Even when I missed you so much I cried myself to sleep. Even when I passed my exams and hoped you would show up even if it didn’t make sense.”

Watoru’s crying got more intense.

“Even when I’m flying in the sky above the clouds, I can’t stop thinking about you!” he screamed.

He paused for a second, before continuing.

“But I’ve never hated you. I’ve never been mad at you for the choices you made. I’ve never had it for you, because…”

Watoru’s grip on Ryuunosuke was getting weaker. 

“Because I still love you, Ryuu-ku-”

Watoru couldn’t finish his sentence. Ryuuunosuke raised his head and kissed him, passionately. It was a sweet kiss. A salty one. A loving one. 

The moment seemed to last forever, and yet, not long enough.

Watoru slowly fell by Ryuunosuke’s side, their hands held together firmly, as they both stared at the sky.

“I’m so glad you’re by my side, Watoru-kun.”

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, Ryuu-kun.”

They suddenly heard a loud bang behind them as the door flew open. It was Sougo.

“I HAVE HIS LOCATION!” he shouted from a distance. “I HAVE TAMAKI’S COORDINATES!”

Watoru and Ryuunosuke looked at each other before running to Sougo.

“We’re going now, everybody” Watoru said as he grabbed their bags, then a key and pressed a button on it.

The ground began to shake and tremble for a bit before stopping. Watoru led them outside. A small plane was standing before them.

“Where did this come from?!” Sougo exclaimed.

“From the ground” Watoru calmly explained. “Jump in everybody. Let’s get Tamaki-kun back.”

** _Around 6AM, near Iriomote-jima, Miyako Islands, Japan_ **

Tamaki stared at the maps app on his phone. He was very far from Okiniwa, somewhere at sea. He zoomed out a bit: the closest piece of land was “Iriomote-jima”. He had never heard of it, and judging by the direction they were heading in, the boat was on its way to that island.

How in the world was he going to return to the mainland? And what was waiting for him at Iriomote-jima? Almost psychically, he received a message from Sougo.

“Tamaki-kun, we’re on our way by air! Don’t get caught, please, stay hidden!” Sougo’s message said.

Tamaki began to type.

“Okay Sou-chan,” he said out loud while tapping, “I’ll wait for you. But how are you coming over?”

A quick pause, then a new message.

“We’ve got a plane!”

Tamaki stared at his phone. “A plane?!” he thought, “how did they get a plane all of a sudden?” His phone beeped again with a new message from Sougo that said “Find something to defend yourself with and stay put!”.

“How am I going to do that?!” Tamaki said out loud.

He scanned the truck with his phone’s camera, taking a closer look at all the boxes and containers inside. They were all labeled “MASHFUL”. He opened a few but all they contained were cans of the energy drink. Tamaki crawled on all four and looked beneath some of the containers.

“Aha!” he screamed out of joy.

He could see a crowbar not too far from him. Tamaki stuck out his hand and grabbed the tool. It was a metallic chrome crowbar, almost shining under his phone’s light. It was a bit heavy but he could wield it easily. Tamaki did a few swings in the air.

“I guess that will have to do” he said.

He took a selfie and sent it to Sougo with the caption “Found something!” He then carefully walked over to the truck’s doors and slowly pushed it open, peeking outside once again. The sun was really rising now. He heard a voice in the distance.

“We’re arriving, Ni-san” a woman shouted.

“Alright Ichi-san, let’s get back to the truck. We’ll drive it over to Satoru-san” a man replied, shouting too.

Tamaki could hear a few people getting closer. He slowly closed the door and took a few steps back, trembling but his crowbar at the ready.

“Do we need to check the cargo?” the woman called Ichi asked the man.

Tamaki gasped.

“No we don’t need to, nobody’s been in or out since we left Okinawa” Ni replied.

Tamaki breathed deeply. “That was a close one,” he thought, unclenching his crowbar a bit.

“You know what,” the man called Ni continued to say, “doesn’t hurt to do a quick check anyway.”

Tamaki gasped again. His heart rate accelerated as he heard footsteps getting closer and closer. “Oh no what should I do?” he thought, panicking, as he walked closer to the door. “Do I just hit them? Or try to explain myself?”. The person was really close by now. He wasn’t sure if it was Ichi or Ni but it didn’t really matter. Suddenly he saw the handle begin to turn (or was it his imagination?), and under the stress of the situation, suddenly jammed the crowbar in the lock.

“Oh no what have I done?!” Tamaki breathlessly whispered to himself.

“That’s odd,” Ichi said on the other side, “it’s not opening”.

“It’s not? That’s weird” Ni said.

Tamaki’s heart was pounding like it had never pounded before. The situation felt so intense to him, as if his life was on the line. 

“Let me come check it out” Ni finally said.

Tamaki began to scan the room again with his flashlight. He thought about Sougo, about Idolish, about his sister. He thought about Ryuunosuke and TRIGGER. “I’m sorry, Sou-chan” Tamaki thought, his arm dropping by his side, and fully expecting the door to open at any moment.

“Ah! Is it jammed again?” another man’s voice shouted in the distance.

It sounded like one of the guards.

“It does that sometimes when a box inside falls on the lock” the guard continued. “No big deal, I’ll take a look at it back at the base.

Tamaki heard the footsteps stop.

“Is that so?” Ni asked.

A quick pause.

“Well, there’s nothing in there we need right now anyway, let’s get in the passenger seats Ichi-san” Ni finally said.

Tamaki heard them walk around the truck to the front and enter the truck. A few minutes later, the truck’s engine started. They were leaving the boat and continuing on dry land.

Tamaki finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had bought some time, hopefully enough for Sougo to come and get him. He sent his location again to Sougo.

“Sou-chan, they’ve landed on Iriomote-jima. They’re driving the truck I’m in but I’m not sure where they’re going yet” he wrote to Sougo.

“Be careful Tamaki-kun, please!” Sougo replied. “We’re coming as fast as we can!”

Tamaki sat down and stared at this phone. He began to flip though his phone’s pictures. “I miss King Pudding” he thought, looking at the pictures of him eating some. He then saw photos of the rest of the Idolish crew. He heart ached a bit. 

“I miss all of you guys too” he said softly, before putting his phone back in his pocket.

  
  


The truck hit a bump in the road, shaking its content and waking Tamaki up.

“Oh no, how long have I been asleep?!” he said, panicking and checking his phone.

There were a few unread messages from Sougo. He looked at the time: it had been approximately an hour. The truck began to slow down. He heard the doors open then shut.

“Let’s hurry, Ichi-san” Ni said, “we’re late for our meeting.”

“Yes Ni-san” she replied. “You two, park the truck inside before heading to the dorms” she ordered the two guards.

“Yes Ichi-san!” the bulkier guard answered. “What’s the passcode again to leave the parking space?”

There was a quick pause.

“You mean you don’t remember?” Ichi-san asked. “That goes against our security guidelin-”

“We’re late, Ni-san. Just give them the code and let’s get a move on.” Ni-san said, cutting her off.

Tamaki could hear Ichi-san audibly groan before saying:

“The code is PR3TT1P3NN1.”

Tamaki immediately opened his note-taking app and typed the code in a new file. “Wow that’s pretty lucky” he thought. He heard the guards get back inside the truck before it began to move again. A couple of minutes later, it stopped.

“Let’s go back to my room” the bulkier guard said getting off the truck.

“Wait, don’t we need to check our guns in first?” the leaner guard asked?

“Ugh, that’s such a pain. Let’s just leave them in the truck so we don’t have to” the bulkier guard answered.

“That’s pretty smart!” Tamaki heard the leaner guard say, before hearing them kiss and walk away.

Tamaki then heard typing on a keyboard, a metal door opening, closing, then total silence. “Have they gone?” Tamaki thought to himself. He walked to the truck’s doors, un-stuck the crowbar and slowly pushed them open. He was in an empty hangar, full of vehicles and containers of all kind. He saw a door and a key pad a few feet away. It was the only entrance apart for the big garage-like one where the truck must have passed through to get here. Suddenly a thought occurred to him.

“I haven’t replied to Sou-chan!” he said, his voice echoing in the hangar.

He opened Rabbit and started to type.

“Sou-chan I’m sorry for not replying before, I had fallen asleep in the back of the truck! I’m okay. I’m in some sort of hangar. I think it’s pretty far from the main port. According to the map, I’m all the way to the west in “Sakiyama”!”

“We’re on our way, Tamaki-kun! We’re arriving in minutes!”

“Minutes??” Tamaki asked, “How??”

A pause, then a selfie from Sougo.

Wearing a parachute.

Jumping from a plane.

  
  


** _10 minutes ago, above the East China Sea, Japan_ **

“What do you mean we’re jumping?!” Sougo shouted over the sound of the plane’s motors. 

The plane only had three seats, one right after the other. 

“Check under your seats and you’ll find a parachute” Watoru shouted back.

Sougo felt under his seat and grabbed what looked like a backpack. It in fact had handles on the sides. He closed his eyes and thought about Tamaki. He opened his eyes and grabbed his phone to reply to him. “I have to be strong, I have to save Tamaki-kun!” Sougo thought.

Minutes later, all three men had ejected from the plane. 

Sougo was falling fast. All three of them were. For some reason, he had imagined the fall to happen less quickly. Maybe anime had set the wrong expectations. He looked over to Ryuunosuke on his left, then to Watoru on his right who began a countdown with his fingers.

“Three!” Watoru screamed.

Sougo put his hands on the handles and focused.

“Two!” Watoru continued.

Sougo looked down and could see Tamaki exiting a garage-like structure.

“One?” Watoru said.

Sougo noticed a man following behind Tamaki, holding a gun. Tamaki had his hands in the air.

“NOW!” Watoru screamed as Ryuunosuke and him pulled on the handles.

“Sougo-kun, what are you doing?!” Ryuunosuke shouted at Sougo.

Sougo couldn’t hear him. He was fixated on the man menacing Tamaki. He was blinded with rage.

“How dare you threaten Tamaki-kun!” he screamed.

The man hadn’t noticed Sougo. He was getting really close now, maybe only a hundred and fifty meters in the air when he deployed his parachute. It opened then detached itself and flew in the air. Without fail, Sougo pulled on the emergency parachute. That one held, dramatically slowing down his descent but still with enough speed to quickly fall to the ground.

“Don’t touch Tamaki-kun!” Sougo screamed as he extended his right foot and fell right on top of the man, kicking him in the face.

The man was instantly knocked out. Tamaki screamed in surprise as the parachute fell around Sougo and him, enveloping them. Tamaki could see Sougo a few feet away, his back turned to him.

“Sou-chan?” he asked, walking slowly towards him

“Tamaki-kun…” he heard Sougo say slowly.

Sougo turned around, tears in his eyes.

“I’ve missed you so much, Tamaki-kun.”

They suddenly both ran towards each other, hugging as soon as they met. Tamaki looked into Sougo’s eyes, held him in the air and kissed him passionately.

“I never want to be apart from you again, Sou-chan.”

“That will never happen again, Tamaki-kun.”

“Tamaki-kun, Sougo-kun, watch out!” a voice suddenly shouted from above.

Tamaki and Sougo turned around to see the man from before aiming his gun at them. The man fired.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Sougo tried to cover Tamaki, Watoru suddenly dropped from the sky, taking the gun from the man and truly knocking him out, and Ryuunosuke dropped right between the man and Sougo, taking the bullet. Ryuunosuke fell immediately.

“Tsunashi-san!” Sougo screamed, running to his body. “Oh no no no, what you done Tsunashi-san?!”

Sougo grabbed him in his arms. Ryuunosuke was bleeding and smiling faintly.

“Tell TRIGGER I love them” he said before losing consciousness. 

Sougo couldn’t believe it. He turned to Tamaki who was crying, then to Watoru who was running over.

“Do something, Satou-san, please!” Sougo cried at Watoru.

Watoru kneeled by Ryuunosuke and grabbed a first aid kit from his backpack. He grabbed Ryuunosuke’s t-shirt and tore it open. There was a lot of bleeding coming from his right side. He grabbed a syringe, filled it with some sort of liquid and injected it in Ryuunosuke’s neck. He then grabbed a lot of cotton, alcohol, and began to quickly clean the wound. He grabbed what looked like a piece of wood and handed it to Sougo.

“Sougo-kun, please put it in his mouth and use all your strength to keep it in there” Watoru ordered Sougo.

“I’m right by your side, Sou-chan” Tamaki said, kneeling by Sougo.

Watoru grabbed a scalpel and surgical forceps and began to make an incision. Sougo felt Ryuunosuke’s body began to twitch and his teeth bite on the piece of wood.

“I’m almost there, the bullet hasn’t traveled far in the body” Watoru said as he was working on Ryuunosuke. “Got it!” he shouted, pulling the bullet out and cleaning the wound once more. 

He then sutured the wound and closed it with bandages, pressing on them strongly with one hand and checking Ryuunosuke’s pulse with the other.

“He’s still getting weaker” Watoru shouted again, grabbing a pen-syringe of adrenaline and injecting it in Ryuunosuke. He then checked his pulse again. He felt it gain some strength but then rapidly grow weaker again.

And then it stopped.

“No pulse!” Watoru screamed, tears filling his throat.

Sougo and Tamaki looked at each other, crying. 

“I’m going to begin doing CPR now!” Watoru said.

He began doing chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth every few compressions. Seconds passed, then minutes. Watoru wasn’t stopping. 

“Satou-san…” Sougo said, still crying.

Watoru ignored him.

“Satou-san, I think you need to stop now…” Sougo said, slowly.

No reaction. The compressions continued. Ryuunosuke’s face was wet with Watoru’s tears. Sougo grabbed Watoru’s hands. He didn’t resist.

“I’m sorry Satou-san, I’m so sorry…” Sougo finally said.

Watoru looked at him, then back at Ryuunosuke. Silence fell. Not even the wind could be heard, just cicadas. The three boys cried silently, sitting around Ryuunosuke’s body, for what seemed like a long time, alone in the forest by the garage-like structure.

Suddenly Tamaki heard a rustling sound coming from behind him. He turned in panic. Watoru quickly pulled his gun. The tree boys waited with baited breath.

A cat jumped out of the trees and sat by the roots of one of them, staring at the group.

“It’s an Iriomote cat!” Tamaki exclaimed. “They’re very rare!”

More sounds could be heard. More cats came out of the trees, forming a half-circle around the group. Then, they began to slowly move towards them.

“Sougo-kun, what is happening exactly?” Watoru asked, incredulously. 

“I have no idea” Sougo replied, equally not understand what was currently happening.

“Let’s not hurt them!” Tamaki said excitedly. 

The cats formed a long line, and one after the other, they cried above a few tears above Ryuunosuke’s wound. Their tears seemed to shine even during the day. After they were done, they disappeared back in the trees. 

A few minutes later, Ryuunosuke suddenly gasped. He looked around him to see the three men, their eyes and mouths wide open in shock. He coughed a bit before saying:

“Wait, so what just happened exactly?”

  
  


** _Inside the MASHFUL secret base_ **

Ichi and Ni looked at each other in disbelief. They couldn’t believe what they had just seen on the monitors.

“Did cats just…” Ichi began to stammer out.

“And did he just…” Ni continued, hesitantly.

Satoru rose from his chair, his long white hair falling behind him. He had piercing blue eyes but they seemed empty and always angry. He looked at his watch and began to talk.

“They’re going to come in the structure. As soon as they enter corridor T3, initiate GASHFUL.

“But Sir,” Ni asked, “I thought the latest tests were inconclusive.

Satoru ran to Ni in the blink of an eye and slapped him so hard he fell to the side. Ichi didn’t react.

“Need I remind you what’s coursing through my veins?” Satoru said, calmly but menacingly.

He grabbed Ni by the collar and pulled him in the air.

“That’s right,” he continued, “pure MASHFUL. Or should I say pure F1Q. And do you remember what I can do?”

He threw Ni to the other side of the room, destroying a chair in the process.

“The GASHFUL is ready” Satoru said. “Or I wouldn’t have suggested it.”

He grabbed an energy drink can from his pocket and drank the whole thing in a matter of minutes. He then proceeded to crush the can in one hand and threw it at Ni.

“Now get to work. This circus has gone on for too long. I want their memories wiped by tonight, and TRIGGER out of commission by next week. GET ME SEXY has waited long enough”.

He turned to look at Ichi who jumped a bit.

“We’re accelerating the timeline” he finally said, exiting the room.

As soon as he was gone, Ichi ran over to Ni to help him up.

“Are you okay?” Ichi asked, holding back tears.

“I’m fine, Ichi-san” Ni replied. “Don’t show weakness. Remember who we’re doing this for”.

Ni grabbed his necklace from under his shirt and clicked on it. It opened to reveal the picture of a young girl and a young boy, smiling. Ichi looked at the picture, took a deep breath, then helped Ni get back up. She grabbed a walkie talkie from her belt and pressed the button.

“To all active units in section T, stand-by for instructions.”

Ni spit blood on the ground and wiped away his bleeding neck. He looked at Ichi.

“Let’s do this, Ichi-san.”

  
  


** _Dormitories, Inside the MASHFUL secret base_ **

The bulkier guard and the leaner guard were kissing on the former’s bed.

“We need to get ready, Kuma-chan” the leaner guard said to the bulkier one, playfully.

“Just a few more minutes, Jira-chan” the bulkier guard replied, kissing him again.

A voice began to play on their walkie talkies by the bed. It was Ichi’s.

“To all active units in section T, stand-by for instructions.”

The walkie talkies then fell silent. Kuma and Jira looked at each other, then looked at a schedule on the wall above the bed. They were both assigned to section T today. The men sighed in unison.

“I guess we better get moving” Kuma said, getting up from the bed and opening his drawers.

He grabbed a clean shirt and threw another at Jira.

“What do you think this is about?” Jira asked Kuma while dressing up.

“I’m not sure,” Kuma replied, “there’s no chatter on the group chat.”

Jira walked over to Kuma, brushed lint off his shirt and put his arms around Kuma’s neck.

“Well, whatever it is, I’m glad I’m facing it with you Kuma-chan.”

They kissed once more. Kuma smiled.

“Let’s get going, then” Kuma finally said.

  
  


** _In the forest, outside the MASHFUL base, Iriomote-jima, Japan_ **

The four men were still stunned, all sitting on the ground. After Ryuunosuke had woken up, Tamaki had proceeded to explain to him what had happened. But he simply couldn’t process it. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Watoru broke the silence.

“I understand what happened,” he said, simply.

Ryuunosuke, Sougo and Tamaki turned their heads to him in unison. Watoru got up and brushed some dirt off his pants.

“We were under a lot of stress, we haven’t slept all night, and we were tired,” he explained matter-of-factly. 

He cleared his throat and finally said:

“Collective hallucination.”

And silence fell again.

“I guess that makes sense” Tamaki said after a while, getting up too. “Come on, Sou-chan, there’s still so much to do.”

He extended his hand to Sougo and smiled. That seemed to shake Sougo awake.

“Right!” he said, grabbing Tamaki’s hand.

“Think about TRIGGER, Ryuu-kun” Watoru said smiling and extending his hand too.

“Tenn, Gaku” Ryuunosuke thought as he grabbed on Watoru’s hand to get up, “we’re nearing the finish line, I can feel it.” Sougo suddenly gasped.

“Tsunashi-san! Your thighs!”

Ryuunosuke looked down at his thighs. They had returned to their normal size.

“The cats healed you!” Tamaki exclaimed.

Watoru sighed. “Let’s get ready before going in. Tamaki-kun, are you comfortable wielding a gun?”

Tamaki’s face turned white. Watoru nodded.

“Then I think you should stay by the plane. It should have landed automatically a few kilometers ahead.” Watoru instructed.

“No! I’m not leaving Sou-chan alone!” Tamaki said, standing his ground.

“Tamaki-kun, please listen to him. It could get dangerous again.” Sougo added. 

He didn’t want to see Tamaki get hurt. But Tamaki wouldn’t listen.

“Sou-chan, we’re stronger together.”

He grabbed Sougo’s hands.

“We’re stronger as Mezzo!”

“Tamaki-kun…” Sougo said, looking into his eyes.

Watoru shuffled around in his bag, grabbed the mini laptop and turned it on. Dots appeared on the screen. 

“We need to get moving, everybody. I’m seeing a lot of movement happening inside. We may lose our chance to get evidence and expose them.” Watoru said.

Ryuunosuke turned to Tamaki.

“Are you sure, Tamaki-kun?”

“I’m sure, Ryuu-aniki” Tamaki replied.

Watoru, Ryuunosuke and Sougo armed themselves with stun guns. Now that Tamaki was safe and sound, Sougo didn’t feel like using a real gun yet. He turned to Tamaki.

“I’ll protect you, Tamaki-kun.”

Watoru nodded at the group and pointed to the garage-like structure’s doors.

“Let’s go inside.”

The group followed. Watoru was leading, with Ryuunosuke right behind him, then Sougo and finally Tamaki closing the group, holding a mini-laptop. They entered the empty garage and headed to a locked door. Tamaki went to the keypad and typed the code he remembered from the two guards earlier: PR3TT1P3NN1. The door opened to reveal a corridor marked T.

“What are we looking for, Watoru-kun?” Ryuunosuke whispered. 

“A lab or computers that could get us files” Watoru replied. “Or a security room so we can just grab all the camera footage.”

The group slowly advanced in the corridor. Suddenly, gas filled the hallway, engulfing them in purple smoke.

“What’s happening Sou-chan?” Tamaki cried.

“Run to the end!” Watoru shouted.

The group began to sprint but it was too late: they had all inhaled the gas. One by one, they fell unconscious. 

“Tamaki….kun…..” Sougo faintly said as he saw mask wearing guards enter the room and start dragging his friends away.

Seconds later, he too lost consciousness.

  
  


** _Dark room, unknown location, probably the MASHFUL base_ **

Tamaki opened his eyes. He was lying on the cold floor. He suddenly coughed very loudly. Weird purple liquid came out of his mouth. He could feel it in his throat and lungs. His head felt dizzy and his vision cloudy. He got on all fours and noticed two feet in his field of vision. The shoes felt familiar. He looked up and couldn’t believe it.

“Aya?!” Tamaki exclaimed.

His sister seemed annoyed.

“Nii-chan, always so pathetic” she said, walking around him in circles.

“Aya...why are you….saying this to me…?” Tamaki said, barely managing to speak with the liquid in his lungs.

“Because you’ve always been weak and lazy, Nii-chan. Always biting off more than you can chew.”

She kicked him in his side and continued.

“Always following after boys way stronger than you. Aren’t you tired of constantly failing?”

She circled back and stood in front of him.

“Aren’t you exhausted of failing to get me back?”

She silently laughed.

“No wonder Sougo is nowhere to be seen. You don’t deserve his support.”

Tamaki held his stomach and cowered. He hurt, but mostly, his lungs seemed on fire.

“No wonder Mezzo disbanded” Aya continued.

“Where are you, Sou-chan” he thought. “Why is Aya so mad against me?”. 

“No wonder you should die!” Aya screamed as she kicked him, rolling him over on the other side. Suddenly, Tamaki was at the edge of a very tall building. He tried to crawl back but hit a wall.

“How is this possible?” Tamaki screamed.

The edge began to come closer to him. A few seconds later, he didn’t have enough ledge to stand on and fell to the bottom. Tamaki cried for help when light abruptly went out. He was falling in complete darkness. He finally crashed in an empty concert hall.

“Where am I?” he asked himself.

“Not where you belong,” a voice said behind him.

He turned around. It was Sougo. Holding a gun. Pointed at Tamaki.

“Sou-chan?!” shouted.

Sougo closed his eyes and fired the gun. Tamaki crawled back on himself, crying.

“This can’t be real, it simply can’t be real!” he said crying, rocking back and forth.

He could feel his throat burning.

“This can’t be happening!”

How was Aya here? And why was Sougo attacking him?

“This...doesn’t make any sense…” Tamaki thought out loud.

A thought occurred to him. He had an idea. He forced his fingers in the back of his throat causing him to vomit. The liquid was hurting more than before but Tamaki didn’t stop. After a few tries, purple liquid stopped coming out, replaced by regular bile. His vision improved. Tamaki looked around: he wasn’t in an empty auditorium. He was in an empty padded cell except for one big mirror hanging on one of the walls. His mini laptop was missing too. He got up and moved closer to the mirror, examining it. His hair was disheveled, he had bags under his eyes and his skin had seen better days. His whole body was going through such an ordeal. 

“Why would there be a mirror in a room like this?” Tamaki thought out loud as he touched the glass panel with his hands.

It didn’t feel particularly solid. Tamaki took a deep breath, walked to the other end of the room, then began to sprint.

  
  


** _Other side of the mirror_ **

Kuma and Jira looked at each other.

“He’s not going to do what I think he’s about to do, is he?” Kuma asked Jira, a bit scared.

“I’m not sure?” Jira replied.

Tamaki hit the mirror with all of his strength and fell to the ground. The glass began to crack in some places. He quickly got back up and walked back to the other side of the room.

“The glass will hold, right?” Kuma said to Jira. “They wouldn’t have made it fragile, I mean, that wouldn’t make sense.”

“Would that be the first time they’ve done something absurd, Kuma-chan?” Jira said. “Let’s get our guns ready.”

Tamaki hit the mirror again, cracking it even more. About two-thirds of the surface seemed to have cracks now.

“Jira-chan...we left the guns in the truck” Kuma said, truly beginning to panic. “And the gas may contaminate us too! What are we going to do?”

Tamaki began to sprint again, possibly for the last time. Jira looked at Kuma, then at Tamaki, and finally rushed to press a button on their security console.

“Stop!” Jira screamed through a microphone.

“Jira-chan, what are you doing?!” Kuma shouted.

“Protecting us.” Jira replied.

  
  


** _Cell, MASHFUL base_ **

Tamaki stopped mid-sprint and looked around the room for speakers but couldn’t see any. His shoulders hurt a lot.

“Don’t hurt us! What do you want?” the voice continued.

Tamaki’s eyes widen. “Hurt you? You’re the ones hurting us!” Tamaki thought.

“Tell me where my friends are!” Tamaki shouted back.

There was a pause of a few seconds. Then, another voice spoke.

“They’re in neighboring cells getting the same treatment as you.”

Tamaki thought very hard about what to ask next. He wasn’t sure whether they’d keep answering, or if they were buying time before getting reinforcements.

“What’s the treatment for? And how do I get out of here?” he finally said.

Again another pause, a bit longer this time. Then, an answer, this time from the first voice that had spoken.

“It’s to open your mind by using your deepest fears before brainwashing it. Just take our keycard and let us go, please.”

Just when the voice finished speaking, a keycard slid underneath the cell’s door. Tamaki walked to it and grabbed the keycard. He looked at the door but couldn’t see any scanner or keypad.

“How do I use it?” Tamaki finally asked.

This time, no answers came, even after a few minutes.

“They must have left” Tamaki said out loud. “I hope they didn’t tick me.”

He walked to the door and waved the card against it. After a few tries, he heard a clicking sound, then the door opened. Tamaki sighed of relief. “I’m coming, Sou-chan, Ryuu-aniki, Wacchan!” Tamaki thought as he pushed the door open. He was standing in a corridor. To each side there were doors, leading to other cells, with a smaller door by each one, clearly meant as observatories. All the observatories had their doors open, cleary empty, and most of the cells were unmarked, Tamaki noticed as he walked past the rooms. Except for one.

“Twelve?” Tamaki said, reading the number on the door.

He waved his card against the door and opened it. Inside were two kids playing in a room filled with toys. They seemed to be about the same age? The kids hadn’t noticed Tamaki as they had their backs turned to him, playing with wooden trains. Tamaki slowly left the room and closed the door. What had he just seen? Who were those kids? Were they imprisoned too? “I need to find Sou-chan, he’ll know what to do!” Tamaki thought as he went to another cell. He waved the keycard against it, and opened the door. The room wasn’t a cell. It had lockers and closets everywhere. A person was standing by a locker, rummaging through them.

“Ryuu-aniki!” Tamaki screamed as he ran over to Ryunnusuke to hug him.

Ryuunosuke jumped in surprise and turned around. 

“Tamaki-kun! You’re okay!”

“Yes I am! But, you’re bleeding a bit on your face!” Tamaki said, noticing drops of blood on his left cheek.

“Ah, that’s nothing” Ryuunosuke said wiping away. “I got some cuts when I escaped. I had to run through a mirror.”

“Me too!” Tamaki said, a bit too enthusiastically. “Did they also try to poison you with gas?”

“They did, but it didn’t do anything to me. I’m not sure why…” Ryuunosuke replied, his voice trailing off as he thought about it once again.

“It must be the cats’ tears!” Tamaki explained instantly.

Ryuunosuke looked at him, then smiled.

“I guess it must be. How did you escape?”

“The people watching me gave me their keycard!”

Ryuunosuke looked at Tamaki, confused. He chased away the questions in his mind. He’d have time for them later.

“What are you doing here, Ryuu-aniki?” Tamaki asked as he walked around the room.

“I’m looking for our equipment.” He gestured over to some lockers.” Look over there while I continue searching here. We need to hurry and get the others back.”

“Yes! Sou-chan and Wacchan need our help!” Tamaki exclaimed.

  
  


** _Another cell, MASHFUL base_ **

Sougo looked around the room. He didn’t recognize his surroundings. He seemed to be in an office in a skyscraper, high in the air. A man was sitting behind a desk, his back turned to Sougo as he was looking outside.

“You’ve finally decided to come to your senses and show up?” the man’s deep voice asked. “I knew you weren’t really like your uncle, deep down.”

The chair circled around. It was Sougo’s father, wearing a black business suit. Sougo suddenly noticed the color of the walls of the office: grey. Framed photos of his uncle with big red X on them were hanging everywhere. Sougo turned around, but the office didn’t have a door to escape through. He turned back to his father and noticed he was suddenly only inches away from his desk. His father was now standing, towering over him.

“Are you ready to get a real job and work for this family?” his father said, somehow with an even deeper voice.

“Never!” Sougo tried to scream.

He couldn’t speak. No sound came from this body. He grabbed his throat. He couldn’t feel any vibration. His father snapped his fingers. The whole office became pitch black. A light illuminated a big box in the distance. Sougo had nowhere to go but towards it, so he began to walk. A voice resonated in the room. It was his father’s again.

“Do you really want to be a failure? I’ve given you so much.”

As Sougo got closer, he realized it wasn’t a box. It was a coffin. But he couldn’t walk away, like he wasn’t in control of his movements. Sougo could now see the inside. It was his uncle’s body.

“Uncle!” Sougo screamed, but again no sound came out

His father appeared, standing behind the coffin.

“Well, then, why don’t you sing? Maybe that will save him.”

Sougo began to cry. He felt incredibly helpless. His uncle opened his eyes and turned to him.

“Save me, Sougo.” he said, faintly.

“You really are pathetic” his father said, before snapping his fingers again.

The coffin abruptly caught fire.

“No, no, no, no!” Sougo said as he backed away.

He didn’t know what to do. Sougo’s uncle began to scream in agony as his body burned.

“This is all your fault, Sougo!” his uncle said, crying in pain. 

Sougo turned around and ran, but there was nowhere to run to. The lights came on. He was in a dressing room, all alone except for one person on the other side by the door. 

“Tamaki-kun!” Sougo exclaimed, relieved.

“Why are you here, Sou-chan?” Tamaki said, coldly. “I told you we were done.”

Tamaki turned around and opened the door.

“Wait!” Sougo screamed. “What do you mean, Tamaki-kun?”

“I’m with Ryuu-aniki now” Tamaki finally said, before exiting the room and slamming the door behind him.

The shockwave sent Sougo flying back against the wall, shattering it. He started to fall and suddenly fell at a desk in a corporate setting. His father was back, right behind him.

“It’s over, Sougo.”

Sougo buried his face in his arms and cried over his desk. 

“Time to work now.” his father said as he walked away, leaving Sougo alone in an empty open-space.

“Tamaki-kun” Sougo said, “where are you? Why did you leave me?”

A voice began to speak, somewhere far in the distance.

“I haven’t left you, Sou-chan!”

Sougo lift his head up and scanned the room. He must have imagined it, he thought, as he buried his face again.

“I’m right by your side, Sou-chan!” the voice said again. “Well, almost, I’m behind a mirror because of the gas.”

This time Sougo got up. He suddenly saw his father running towards him at full speed. He fell to the floor in panic and crawled back.

“I’m sorry Sou-chan!” the voice continued.

“For what?!” Sougo said, screaming in fear and putting his hands over his head to protect himself.

“For this!” another voice shouted.

His father jumped on him and rammed his fingers down his throat. Sougo kicked and punched, trying to escape but the weight of his father was too overwhelming. Seconds later, he began to vomit a weird purple liquid.

His surroundings began to morph as the corporate setting turned into a padded cell, and his father into…

“Tsunashi-san?!” Sougo exclaimed.

Ryuunosuke finally let go and fell by his side, breathless. Sougo looked around, then at the purple liquid on the floor. Had he been poisoned? 

“Sou-chan, you’re okay!” Tamaki’s voice said over speakers. “I’m right here, behind the mirror!”

Sougo turned to the big mirror on one side of the room.

“Tamaki is in the observatory so he doesn’t get poisoned again” Ryuunosuke explained. “It seems that I’m...immuned.”

“Because of the cats!” Tamaki shouted.

Sougo looked around the room.

“Where’s Satou-san?” he asked.

“We haven’t found him yet but I’m sure he’s right by here” Ryuunosuke replied. “Tamaki-kun has our equipment, we found it right before getting you.”

Ryuunosuke got up and extended a hand to Sougo.

“This is not over, Sougo-kun. We can rescue Watoru, get to the bottom of MASHFUL and save TRIGGER.” 

Sougo took a deep breath and grabbed his hand.

“I’m ready to go” he finally said.

As soon as they had left the room, Tamaki jumped on Sougo to hug him.

“Sou-chan I’m sorry we made you throw up I’m so glad you’re okaaaaay” Tamaki cried as he held him tight in his arms.

“It’s alright, Tamaki-kun. I’m glad you did so. I’m okay now.” Sougo said, hugging him back. “Come on, we need to find Satou-san.”

“Right.” Tamaki said, wiping away a few tears. “Here!” he continued, giving a backpack to Sougo.

“Where should we head to?” Sougo asked, putting the backpack on.

Ryuunosuke gestured over to a room a few doors down.

“There. It’s the only room with the observatory door still closed.”

Ryuunosuke grabbed a stun gun from the backpack and walked slowly to the side of the door. Tamaki and Sougo stood on the other side.

“On the count of three, Tamaki-kun, please open the door. Three…”

Tamaki held his breath.

“Two…”

Sougo looked at the closed door. He was still a bit shaken up, but trusted Ryuunosuke with his life.

“One…”

Tamaki held the keycard close by, waiting for Ryuunosuke’s signal.

“Zero!”

  
  


** _Watoru’s cell’s observatory, MASHFUL base_ **

Ichi and Ni jumped in surprise as the door flew open. They didn’t have time to grab their guns: Ryuunosuke was already pointing his weapon at them.

“Don’t move or I’ll pull the trigger!” Ryuunosuke said. “Put your guns on the floor and slide them over.”

Ichi and Ni looked at each other, before following the instructions. As soon as they slid them over, Sougo entered the room, grabbed the guns and stored them in his backpack. Tamaki entered too having unlocked the cell’s door beforehand, and looked through the glass.

“Wacchan!” he exclaimed, pointing at Watoru, unconscious on the cell’s floor.

“You don’t want to hurt us” Ni calmly said, looking straight at Ryuunosuke. 

His calm demeanor surprised Ryuunosuke.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Ryuunosuke asked.

“Because that would be the best way to murder all of your friends and yourself” Ichi added, as calmly as Ni.

Ryuunosuke looked at Sougo who was as unsure of the situation as him.

“Explain yourselves now. Who are you and what’s going on?” Sougo shouted.

Ichi turned to Ni who nodded. She began to speak.

“Did you see two kids on your way to this cell?”

Tamaki turned his attention from Watoru to Ichi and Ni.

“Yes, I did!” Tamaki said, “In room twelve!”

“That’s not room twelve,” Ichi continued, “that’s room One and Two.”

She pointed at them.

“We’re One and Two.”

Tamaki, Ryuunosuke and Sougo looked at each other. Suddenly, Ryuunosuke noticed something.

“The cell’s empty! Where did Watoru-kun go?”

Sougo and Tamaki turned to the glass. Watoru wasn’t there anymore. They turned to Ichi and Ni who suddenly looked terrified.

“Don’t do this!” Ichi screamed.

The three boys turned around. Watoru was standing in the corridor, out of breath, his eyes shot. He was holding on firmly to two kids with his arms. The three boys gasped.

“If you don’t tell us what the hell is going on and how to escape, I’m ending both of their lives.” Watoru screamed.

Ryuunosuke was stunned. Watoru was delirious. The poison gas mixed with his military background weren’t reacting well to the situation.

“You don’t want to do this!” Ichi said, terrified. “You can’t do this!”

“Watoru-kun, calm down!” Ryuunosuke said.

“Why the hell can I not do this?” Watoru shouted back, contracting his arms a bit more around their neck.

“Satou-san, no!” Sougo screamed.

Tamaki didn’t know what to do, as he looked back between Ichi, Ni and Watoru.

“Because it will hurt all of us!” Ni screamed at Watoru.

“That doesn’t scare me!” Watoru shouted.

Sougo suddenly pointed a real gun at Watoru.

“Sougo-kun, what are you doing?!” Ryuunosuke shouted.

“We can’t let him hurt children, Tsunashi-san!” Sougo cried.

Tamaki turned to Ichi and Ni.

“Why is it so dangerous to hurt them? Who are they?” Tamaki asked. “Answer me before it’s too late!”

“You have until zero!” Watoru screamed. “Three…”

“Don’t do this, Satou-san!” Sougo cried.

“Two…”

“Sougo-kun, please don’t shoot him!” Ryuunosuke said, tears welling up in his eyes.

“One…”

“ANSWER NOW!” Tamaki screamed.

“BECAUSE WE’RE THE FIRST HUMANS!” Ichi cried, falling to her knees. “WE’RE ADAM AND EVE!”

Silence fell. The four boys were too shocked for words, even Watoru. They all turned to Ichi and Ni.

“Don’t kill them, or you’ll kill all of humanity” Ni said slowly.

“What does that mea-” Watoru began to say before fainting.

Watoru’s body fell to the ground with a loud thump, causing the three boys to turn their attention to him. At this precise moment, Ichi and Ni sped through the observatory room, catching them by surprise. The two adults grabbed the two children and suddenly disappeared, as if they had warped out of the corridor.

**TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 2...**


End file.
